In "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", Homer chokes to death on a piece of broccoli and his spirit must perform a good deed in order to enter heaven. "Scary Tales Can Come True" reveals the dark side of fairy tale characters and in "Night of the Dolphin" - The world is overtaken by dolphins after Lisa frees their leader from captivity.

While calling Animal Control over a badger taking residence in Santa's Little Helper's doghouse, Homer discovers that Springfield has two different area codes—and ends up leading a revolt that splits the town in two.

During an outdoor book fair, Krusty finds out he has a daughter (from a one-night stand with a female soldier who fought in the Gulf War), but loses her trust after gambling away her violin to Fat Tony, prompting Homer and Krusty to retrieve it.

Eager to join "Dirt First" after witnessing their pro-vegetarianism demonstration atop the local Krusty Burger franchise, Lisa attempts to prove her worth by camping out in a giant redwood destined for logging. Meanwhile, Bart joins the workforce in order to buy a new game console advertised on television.

Short on funds, Homer approaches the ever-wealthy Mr. Burns for a raise. But when Burns grants his request on the condition that Homer act as his personal jester, Homer finds himself in a series of degrading and embarrassing situations.

Homer discovers the Internet and starts his own web page, where he calls himself Mr. X and begins revealing Springfield's secrets. When it is announced that Mr. X's work has won a Pulitzer Prize, Homer reveals himself in order to claim the prize. However, with his identity as Mr. X now public, Homer can no longer obtain any secrets as no one will say anything while he's around. Homer then begins making up stories to put on his web page. When one of those stories turns out to be the truth, he is kidnapped and taken to "The Island", a place where those who know too much are taken out of society.

An x-ray reveals that Homer has a crayon lodged in his brain that has been there since childhood. Upon removal of the crayon, Homer's IQ suddenly jumps to a very high level; he and Lisa form a great new bond, but when his way of life changes drastically he wonders if removing the crayon was a good idea.

Marge feels sympathy for an inmate she meets at a prison rodeo, vouches for him at his parole hearing and tries to assist his reentry into the real world. Meanwhile, Homer starts his own chiropractic office.

Despite being banned from life forever from the comic book store, Bart and Milhouse take over its management when the Comic Book Guy suffers from a cardiac episode, "the worst episode ever". Their management of the shop is fairly successful, until they discover the Comic Book Guy's secret stash of illegal video clips and begin charging admission for their viewing. Meanwhile, the Comic Book Guy on the road to recovery receives tips from Homer on making friends to no avail. Until a chance meeting with Principal Skinner's mother sparks an unusual relationship.

Instead of buying a casket for his father, Homer uses the money to build a tennis court instead. Springfield wants to use the court for a tennis tournament, which all of the family members enter. But when teams are divided, the family gets competitive with each other, and they recruit professional tennis players to play in their places.

When a talent agency discovers the musical abilities of Bart, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph, it scurries to set them up as the next big boy band sensation, complete with a sinister subliminal propaganda campaign in mind: "Join the Navy".

Homer's thumb is cut off following breakfast and the episode follows three different paths. Homer's day: as he and Marge race to get his thumb reattached. Lisa's day: as she misses the bus and tries to get to school so that she can win the science fair. Bart's day: as he and Milhouse make use of a stash of fireworks that Fat Tony has illegally smuggled into the country. In the end their respective paths come together.

When he can stop thinking of her and to help him stop living in the past, Ned gets the Simpson family to help remove all the reminders of Maude he has around the house. Only one item misses getting thrown into the chipper, a sketchbook that contains Maude's vision of a Christian amusement park called "Praiseland." Ned goes on a quest to build this amusement park, which, opens to lackluster reviews; describe as the "height of tedium". When suddenly a miracle occurs, as a Maude mask floats in front of the Maude statue. It is quickly discovered that anyone who stands in front of the statue has visions. Is it truly a miracle, or just the passing of gas?

Homer injures himself while playing basketball at the Springfield YMCA, and needs surgery. While recovering at home, he finds he is good at caring for pets and at babysitting the Flandereses' children, so much so that he starts a daycare center which gets him nominated for a Good Guy award for service to the community. But Bart and Lisa feel neglected through all of this, and are determined to thwart his award campaign.

The family wins a trip to Delaware, but Homer refuses to pay the tax on the ticket, so they ride the rails and meet a hobo who sings and tells them some tall tales. First is the story of Paul Bunyan, with Homer playing the role of Paul as a giant doofus (a natural role for him). Next is Lisa as "Connie Appleseed," who tries to convince the pioneers to eat apples instead of buffalo. The third story isn't really tall, but a Mark Twain-style tale about Tom Sawyer (Bart) and Huckleberry Finn (Nelson), who go on the run when Huck won't marry Becky (Lisa).